Following the release of new GDP estimates, nominal GDP for FY18/19 increased and the structure of the economy has changed. In October 2019, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) released new GDP estimates, updating the base year for estimating economic activity to 2016/17 from 2009/10.
... See More + As a result, nominal GDP for FY18/19 was revised upwards from USh 109,945 billion to USh 128,499 billion. Furthermore, the share of industry in GDP has increased from about 20 percent to almost 30 percent. At the same time, there has been a drop in the share of services from about 58 percent to 46 percent. Manufacturing has doubled its share from about 8 percent to over 16 percent of GDP, whilst information and communications (IC) has fallen from 12 percent to just under 2 percent of GDP. Real GDP grew by 6.5 percent in FY18/19, maintaining the rebound in economic activity over the last two years. This has been driven by strong levels of domestic consumption and sustained levels of public and private investment. Net FDI inflows shot up to 5.1 percent of GDP in FY18/19 from 3 percent of GDP the previous year. The construction sector continues to grow at double-digit levels. There has been a jump in manufacturing growth supported by recent expansions in the sector, including investments in new factories. Agriculture was boosted by another decent harvest and a strong rebound in fisheries. Levels of GDP growth of about 6 percent and above are expected over the medium-term, driven by consumption spending, intensified private and public investments in infrastructure for industrialization, electricity transmission, and preparation for oil extraction. Still, this growth is not high enough for Uganda’s lower middle-income status and poverty reduction ambitions.
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Ratings for the Northern Uganda Business Support Program Project for Uganda were as follows: outcome and Bank performance was satisfactory and monitoring and evaluation (M and E) quality was substantial.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: access to credit through village revolving fund (VRF) and regular follow up support is more effective and game-changing than just grant plus training. Targeting existing groups of poor with at least 50 percent females was more effective than forming new groups of poor. Building strong institutions of the poor is critical for ownership and sustainability of project investments. Disbursing funds to only those groups that abided by the five-core principles for at least 3 to 6 months was essential for weeding out non-serious groups initially. Adherence to five core principles helped to build a culture of systematic savings, not for consumption but for investment. Move from grant to credit and VRF requires unlearning dependency behavior and promoting business mindset development. Process of convincing, testing, and trying out credit and unlearning different behavior was critical for the success of the program.
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The main development objective of this Northern Uganda Business Support Program Project is to improve and sustain household income of the vulnerable poor through provision of business management support services to the existing and new Community Interest Groups (CIGs) in the four pilot districts (Kitgum, Gulu, Nebbi, and Soroti).
... See More + The restructuring of the project is being undertaken at the request of the Government of the Republic of Uganda through a letter dated December 12, 2017. The rationale for the restructuring is that, although the design of this project started before the completion of the Uganda NUSAF 2, which it was intended to complement, its approval was delayed. Following the JSDF approval, NUSAF 3 was approved and began implementation of a sustainable livelihood pilot (SLP). In view of this, the Government of the Republic of Uganda requested to restructure the JSDF project to align with SLP, specifically in the terminology change from CIGs to SHGs. The restructuring of JSDF and its harmonization with SLP is expected to further improve the impact of the JSDF and increase the number of beneficiaries almost three-fold and ensure sustainability of access to finance and strong community-based institutions. The restructuring further improves the impact of the JSDF and increase the number of beneficiaries almost three-fold to ensure sustainability of access to finance and strong people institutions.
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The development objective of the Third Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF 3) Project for Uganda is to provide effective income support to and build the resilience of poorand vulnerable households in Northern Uganda.
... See More + NUSAF 3 was designed as a Community Demand Driven (CDD) project. By design and implementation, the project includes: i) effective targeting of households with an agreed criteria related to poverty levels and vulnerability; ii) implementation using participatory and transparent community targeting approach; iii) participatory planning for labor intensive public works; iv) labor intensive subprojects/ activities to reach low skilled beneficiaries; and v) payment flexibility to consider daily wages and piece rates. The project also pays attention to special needs of a) women, b) the poorest, vulnerable and marginalized individuals, households, communities and regions; c) contributing to social inclusion of the Northern and Eastern part of Uganda.The World Bank’s Operational Policy OP 4.10 on Indigenous Peoples (IPs) or Marginalized/Vulnerable groups as referred to in the 1195 Constitution of Uganda is triggered when these people are likely to be present in or have a collective attachment to a project’s area of influence.
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The goal of social protection is to ensure that all Kenyans live in dignity and are able to exploit their human capabilities for their own social and economic wellbeing.
... See More + Investing in social assistance improves the livelihoods of beneficiaries and in turn contributes to national development. The Government of Kenya has made social protection a priority in its policy and programming. As part of the government’s initiatives to improve and enhance social protection in the country, much focus and attention has been placed on the cash transfer social assistance programs through the establishment of the National Safety Net Program (NSNP) in 2013. The NSNP is an important contribution of the government’s efforts to reduce poverty and the vulnerability of the population to economic, social and natural shocks and stresses. This 2016 report examines the progress that has been made in the National Safety Net Program since its inception. The report’s findings reaffirms that the NSNP cash transfers have made a profound difference in the lives of beneficiary households by improving their welfare and increasing their resilience. Therefore, this report is a midterm assessment of the status of the program. The report finds that clear progress has been made over the past two years towards the achievement of the NSNP objectives and towards reducing poverty and vulnerability among our most disadvantaged households. The report also highlights some challenges that have been experienced in delivering this large and complex program and identifies areas in which our ministries can improve on the program. To conclude, as the cash transfer sector has grown in the past few years as evidenced by this report, there is now a need for the government and its development partners to consider the shape of the social protection landscape beyond 2017.
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Kenya has experienced a decade of relatively strong economic growth. Between 2000 and 2009, economic growth in Kenya averaged 3.7 percent. However, growth declined sharply in 2008 and 2009 as a result of the violence following the December 2007 presidential elections, of the global food, fuel, and financial crisis, and of the drought that occurred after the fourth consecutive year.
... See More + This persistent poverty and vulnerability highlights the fact that social protection has an important role to play in the effort to reduce poverty and vulnerability and promote human capital development in Kenya. The Government of Kenya has only recently (June 2011) developed a national social protection policy. This policy builds on the Constitution of Kenya (2010) which includes in its bill of rights the right for every person to social security and binds the state to provide appropriate social security to persons who are unable to support themselves and their dependents. However, there has also been a growing trend towards cash transfers to the extent that the majority of government financing to safety nets has been spent on cash transfers in recent years. As a result, the coverage of cash transfer programmes has grown significantly but remains low in comparison with the population in need. This paper is organized as follows: chapter one gives introduction; chapter two gives strategic relevance; chapter three deals with technical soundness; chapter four focuses on institutional arrangements; chapter five presents budget process and expenditure framework; chapter six presents results framework; chapter seven focuses on economic justification; chapter eight gives inputs to the programme action plan; chapter nine gives technical risk rating; and chapter ten gives inputs to the programme implementation support plan.
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The Government of Kenya (GoK) has a number of well-established social insurance schemes and safety net programs, but their coverage has tended to be low and their effectiveness limited.
... See More + The coverage of cash transfer programs has grown significantly but remains low in comparison with the size of the population in need. This assessment uses the draft guidance notes on Program-for-Results (PforR) operations prepared by the Operations Policy and Country Services (OPCS) department of the World Bank. The assessment reviews the fiduciary aspects of the government's national safety net program. According to this assessment, the strengths include: (i) sector-wide planning and budgeting through the Sector Working Groups (SWGs), the Medium-term Planning (MTP) framework, and the Medium-term Expenditure Framework (MTEF); (ii) increasing computerization through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS); (iii) current efforts to develop and roll out a single registry linked to the Management Information Systems (MISs) for the five cash transfer programs; (iv) the ongoing development and intended roll out of program MISs for the Cash transfer (CT) programs implemented by the department of gender and social development in the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Development (MGCSD); (v) the upgrading of the MIS for the CT for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CT-OVC) and the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP); (vi) independent external audit arrangements by the Kenya National Audit Office (KENAO); and (vii) the fact that the procurement performance of the CT programs will have little or no impact on the implementation of the program. This paper is structured as follows: chapter one gives background and the program's institutional arrangements; chapter two presents program's fiduciary performance and significant fiduciary risks; chapter three focuses on fraud and corruption; chapter four gives institutional arrangements; and chapter five presents mitigating measures.
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